The Hidden Truth
by Poly Bookworm
Summary: Fear, pain, and hopelessness were a few choice feelings that summed up Subject 00472's status. He was locked up by the government for painful experiments, missing his new alien friends, and couldn't understand the pulling feeling in his heart. Something needed to be done and he hoped that the one bot he longed for would find him. SamxBee. Rated M for strong language and torture.
1. Chapter 1: Just the Beginning

**Title: **Hidden Truth

**Author: **Poly Bookworm

**Fandom: **Transformers (movieverse/bayverse) with G1 influence

**Summary: **Fear, pain, and hopelessness where a few choice feeling that summed up Subject 00472's status. He was locked up by the government for painful experiments, missing his new alien friends, and couldn't understand the longing feeling in his heart. Something needed to be done and he hoped that the one person he longed for would find him.

**Pairings: **BumblebeexSam

**Rating: **M

**Warnings: **mentions of torture, strong language

**Author's Note: **So hey guys! This is my first story and I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to leave a review (positive or negative), anything helps! Tell me if I should continue or stop while I am ahead.

**-x-x-x-**

_**Chapter 1: Just the Beginning**_

**-x-x-x-**

"Subject 00472," a woman spoke into a microphone to communicate with the scientists in the operating area. She stood in a room connected to the subject's operation area by a special bulletproof and radiation-proof window. The woman glanced down at a chart on her clipboard. "I see its heart rate is above average and its blood pressure is a little high."

"Of course its high!" the subject spat, glaring at the women through the window. "You people have me tied down against my will! When I get outta here, I'll make sure my Autobot buddies-"

Somewhere to the subject's left, a scientist in a HAZMAT suit gagged him with a cloth. The subject's muffled cries began to quiet down, but he thrashed helplessly against the Velcro restraints.

The women leaned down a pressed the button on the speaker again, ignoring the subject's fights. "How is his radiation level, Doctor Jameson?"

A man in a HAZMAT suit touched a button on the side of his helmet. "Still insanely high. Nothing we have given him has changed the fact that the radiation is still off the charts." The subject turned his glare towards Doctor Jameson; he couldn't see the man's face behind the reflective glass of his helm. "I'm surprised the subject his so healthy…" Doctor Jameson paused before adding, "And alive for that matter."

"Hmm," the women spoke, "and what about its bone structure?"

Doctor Jameson glanced at a computer sitting next to the subject, which had an x-ray image of the subject on it. "Still changing. My most logical guess is that his bones are changing into some kind of metallic substance, but not any metal I have ever encountered," he explained, occasionally pointing to parts of the x-ray.

The women, Doctor Goldden, leaned closer to the protective glass, trying to get a better look. "Interesting," she mused, "and its organs?"

"Becoming more dense," Doctor Jameson responded timidly. "It seems like his body is changing to accommodate the radiation."

The head scientists scoffed, "Human bodies cannot accommodate to such things in such a short amount of time, Doctor Jameson. You know that; it has taken the human race over millions of years to evolve, not mere weeks. Get your head out of your ass and make logical evaluations, not this science-fiction mumbo-jumbo."

"Yes, Doctor Goldden. Please forgive me."

Doctor Goldden ignored his half-assed apology. She continued, "Is the bio-recorder still functional?"

"Yes, ma'am. Planting it under the brain stem has allowed us to collect much information about his ever-changing vitals."

"And the electro-wave generator?"

"O-one hundred percent functional," Doctor Jameson stuttered. He hated the electro-wave generator; it was Doctor Goldden's way of controlling the subject. He inwardly shuddered.

"Good." A sadistic grin appeared on the women's face as she looked down at the clipboard in her hand, flipping through of the papers, and scoffed again. "You said in your earlier report that there was an incident this morning." She waited for Doctor Jameson nod and continued. "What was it? Your report does not include many details."

Doctor Jameson frowned behind his helm. "We lost a heart monitor," he said bluntly.

"You _lost_ a heart monitor? How the hell do you just lose a heart monitor?"

"Well," Doctor Jameson muttered, searching his brain for the right words, "the heart monitor came alive, Doctor Goldden."

"Alive?" The women asked, narrowing her eyes at the man in the HAZMAT suit. "You expect me to-"

Doctor Jameson turned away from the mirror and instructed his assistant to bring something out. The assistant wheeled a cage, on top of a cart, out into the operating area. Inside the cage was a small mechanical creature, huddled in the corner of the cage, away from the humans. Once the subject was in view, the mechanical creature clicked and whirled happily and reached out to touch Subject 00472. The subject stopped struggling against his restraints and gave the mechanical creature the best reassuring smile he could muster from behind his gag. The little robot let out a number of clicks and jumped up excitedly in his cage. Before any of the scientists could register what happened, the little robot cut through a few of the metal bars of his cage and leapt for the subject, latching onto the subject torso.

The scientist let out a surprised cry and jumped away from the subject and the robot.

"Get that abomination back in its cage and away from our subject," Dr. Goldden commanded in the microphone. "We can't risk the experiments!"

A few of the scientists glanced nervously between the head scientist behind her protective window and the subject with his heart-bot. They watched as the little bot rubbed his mechanical head affectionately against the subject's bare chest, stopping to listen to the subject's heart momentarily. It beeped and chatted happily as it patted the area above the subject's heart.

"What are you imbeciles waiting for?" Dr. Goldden screech, slapping her hands down onto the microphone angrily, causing everyone to jump at the sudden high pitched screeching noise.

"Doct… I don't think… we shoul..." Dr. Jameson stuttered, watching the small robot closely.

"I don't give a fuck what you think you should or shouldn't do!" Dr. Goldden yelled, glaring down at Dr. Jameson. "I am the head and _you_ _listen to me_!" Dr. Jameson flinched away from the women, even if there was a bulletproof, radiation-proof glass between them. He nodded numbly and made his way towards the old heart monitor. Once he grabbed the little robot, it emitted a loud, ear-splitting cry of despair as it was separated from his creator once again. The subject began to struggle ten-fold as the cries of his kin reached his ears.

"Hold the subject down!" yelled one of the scientists, who weren't preoccupied with the little robot. "Sedate him, quick!" Two other scientists scrambled to sedate the subject.

After a few long moments, the anesthesia was working on the subject and his little robot was locked up in another large steel cage.

The subject's head drowsily felt to the side and looked at Dr. Jameson straight in the face with a pitiful expression.

Dr. Jameson gave him a sympathetic frown, although the subject couldn't see it. Last time Dr. Jameson checked, he didn't sign up for this shit. He didn't want to see the poor kid suffer. He wanted to be a scientist to find cures for cancer or find a new vaccine, not torture humans for the military's gain. Life sure sucked sometimes.

"Get that creature out of the room before it causes another panic," Dr. Goldden instructed calmly, flicking her wrist towards the exit to the experimentation room.

"Yes, ma'am," Dr. Jameson said, his frown deepening. Soon the little heart-bot was escorted out of the room and the tension seemed to disappear.

The subject turned his head to stare at the large doors where his bot had been taken through. His vision began to blur and his breathing slowed. Before his world went black one word crossed his mind… _Help._

**-x-x-x-**

"Dr. Goldden."

The head scientist whirled around to face her personal assistant. "Yes, Ashley." _This better be important,_ the doctor thought angrily. She had been interrupted from her observation of Subject 00472.

"Um, its Amanda-" but Amanda's voice trailed off at the look of Dr. Goldden's face. Acting as if nothing happened she continued after she cleared her throat. "A 'Mr. Prime' is on the phone for you in your office. He said it's very important."

_Fuck! Perfect, just perfect! I have to bullshit to a giant alien robot. Just the cherry to top of this fucking day._

"Alright." Dr. Goldden briskly left the observation deck, Amanda on her heels, and marched to her office a few doors down. She slammed the door shut in Amanda's face and seated herself behind her large mahogany desk. She glared at the phone for a moment, but after a few mental curses on a particular alien race, she placed the receiver to her ear.

"This is Dr. Goldden."

"Good evening, Dr. Goldden," replied a strong, metallic voice.

"Optimus Prime," she said, trying to keep the venom out of her voice. "How are you this fine evening?"

"Worried, I must admit," he -_ "it" its a fucking alien robot! -_ said gently. "How is young Samuel?"

"He is better today. His vital are improving and the radiation damage is healing with the medication he is on," she lied, rolling a pencil between her fingers. "He won't be one hundred percent for quite a long time."

Prime let out a very audible sigh. "I would feel much better if you would let our medical professional take a look at him."

Goldden wanted to laugh at him. "No offense Prime, but _my_ medical professionals have much more experience with the human anatomy. Plus, you and your 'men' continuously release a flow of radiation, do you want to force the boy's body to take on more radiation trauma?"

"No, of course not, Dr. Goldd-"

"Then let my men work in peace and when the boy is ready to be released, he will be."

"I only ask for your permission to have my medical officer observe the boy at a safe distance while you continue your medical work," Prime said, even his voice over the phone was intimidating.

"I can not have anyone unauthorized enter my facility, Prime."

"Please, just think about it. Samuel is very close to my team and he means a lot to each and every one of us. We haven't heard from him in two weeks and we are extremely worried."

"You have nothing to be worried about, he is under the best care," Goldden said, rolling her eyes as she did so. "He is under the care of humans, where he belongs."

Prime sighed again. "I… Just make sure he is better soon."

"I'm doing my best, Prime." _Distracting fucking phone calls aren't helping, you overgrown tin can. _

"Thank you, Dr. Goldden," his said gently.

Goldden grunted, "Yeah, sure. Goodbye, Prime."

"Goodbye Dr. Gol-"

Dr. Goldden slammed the phone on the receiver, the device groaning from under her hand. She placed her elbows on her desk and rested her head in the palms of her hand, rubbing her temples slightly. Today just wasn't her day.

**-x-x-x**

Published: April 18, 2012


	2. Chapter 2: Pain

**Author's Note: **Sorry this is coming out so late, school finally ended and I can focus on this story (and work). I want to thank my lovely reviewers for taking the time to give me feedback :) It really means a lot to know what you guys think! They all warmed my heart! Thanks to all the readers, favoriters, and alerters out there, too! And hopefully you all stay with the story. As a side note: this story takes place after Transformers 1, before Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. As much as I liked number 2, I felt there was too many plot holes and I didn't want to mess with _that_. OH! So it seems I forgot a little thing called a disclaimer; so…

_**Disclaimer for the entire story: I do not own Transformers and all related characters; Hasbro and Paramount Pictures have all the rights! **_

**-x-x-x-**

_**Chapter 2: Pain**_

**-x-x-x-**

_**CLANK!**_

Sam woke with a start; blinking rapidly as someone turned on the bright fluorescent lights to his white cell. Sam turned to look at the large metallic door, glaring at the face that appeared in the small window. It was the face of his 'feeder.' He scowled as the feeder opened a small mail-slot like flap at the bottom of the door and slid in a tray of food. Sam turned his head dramatically away from the door and crossed his arms over his chest, as he sat on the flat cot.

The face looking through the peephole frowned. The feeder reached for an intercom system that allowed him to communicate with the being in the cell.

"Don't make me do _it_," he threatened as he spoke into the speaker.

"Go jump off a cliff," Sam shot back, his back still facing the door.

Sam heard the feeder grunt through the intercom. "You know the rules, Subject 00472."

"I don't care. I'm not eating."

The feeder sighed, looking at the small device that was hooked to his belt. He didn't like what he had to do, but he was required to do it if the subject was being disobedient. Dr. Goldden's rules.

The feeder unclasped the device and held it in the middle of his palm. The black device resembled an iPod nano, except it was more oval shaped and instead of a menu, play-pause, rewind, and fast-forward circular button, there was a single red button with a white lightening bolt in the middle. His thumb grazed over the red button before pressing it, activating the electro-wave generator.

Pain coursed through Sam's body as he convulsed on his cot. His back arched as if he was being shot with a taser and his arms folded into his body, as if protecting himself. An animalistic wail of pain escaped from his lips. Without realizing, his mind too clouded with pain, he rolled off the cot and landed painfully onto the cold, white floor. Just as the pain started, it stopped, leaving Sam to stare at the blinding lights on the ceiling as he fought to catch his breath. From deep within the confides of his mind, he felt an innocent presence, wordlessly asking if he was alright. He knew it was that heart-bot, he so affectionately named Cardio, but he was so tired that he couldn't even muster up the strength to respond.

"Eat."

Sam remained silent.

The feeder sighed and glanced at the remote in his hand.

"I'll let is slide this time, Subject 00472, but the next time I won't," the feeder said, latching the device back onto his belt. With that, the feeder left without a second glance.

Sam lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath and allow his body to rest from the torture, but his stomach protested rather loudly. He gingerly rolled onto his stomach and crawled over to the tray of food. He downed the cup of water in one long gulp and tore into the bread like a rabid animal. It hurt to eat, since he was used to not eating a lot, but he was so hungry that it didn't matter. He hated when the feeder was around to watch him eat; those pitying eyes staring at him freaked the boy out.

After lying on the white hospital-like flooring for who knows how long, Sam sat up slowly, allowing for the wave low blood sugar induced dizziness to pass. He stood up slowly and stumbled back to his cot, collapsing into the poor excuse for a bed. And once again, he was staring at the fluorescent lights above his head.

_Please, someone help me._

**-x-x-x-**

_Please, someone help me. _

Bumblebee jerked out of a restless recharge cycle, groggy and confused. Ever since Sam had been taken to a special medical facility to treat the radiation poisoning he sustained from the All-Spark, he had been hearing Sam's voice, pained and always pleading. It unnerved the young Autobot. It pained him to know everything the young human had sacrificed to help the Autobots; it pained Bee's spark to think about his human's pain.

_His _human.

Yes, Bumblebee made it very clear to his fellow Autobots that Sam was his charge and his charge only. He had taken his guardianship to an entirely new level, but he didn't care… Sam was his.

His and _only_ his.

But not seeing his charge for two weeks was beginning to wear on the scout; not just mentally, but physically. Something deep down in his spark told him that something was very wrong… something was wrong with _his_ Sam. And it scared him. He had voiced his concerns to Prime, which prompted his leader to give Sam's doctor a call, but he merely replied with a 'she said Sam is doing better.' Bumblebee didn't believe the woman; he didn't trust humans. Only Sam.

Bumblebee whined softly, sinking lower on the wheels of his alt mode.

Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide watched the young scout from across the hanger of the abandoned warehouse. It was hard enough burying a fellow comrade, but now, watching another suffer slowly. It was almost unbearable.

"Optimus," Ratchet murmured, turning to the bot, "we must do something."

Optimus sighed, releasing hot air out of his vents. "I know, but what can we do? Sam is under the care of the humans and Dr. Goldden will not let anyone near her facility."

The CMO's frown deepened. "I don't like this women, Optimus."

Ironhide snorted, crossing his arms over his massive chassis. "I agree. Fraggin' humans; selfish, little barbaric creatures."

Optimus watched his comrades carefully before speaking. "They are a young species, we should not hold that against them."

Ironhide grunted, but didn't say anything. He side-glanced at the scout before looking back at his leader. "Being a 'young species' is not an excuse to be cruel, Optimus. You've seen what evils they are capable of doing."

"Yes, Ironhide, but we have also seen the good."

At this, Ironhide let out a low rumbling sigh. "I'm going for a drive, I need to clear my processor. All this drama with the humans gives me a processor-ache." With that, Ironhide nodded once to his fellow comrades and transformed quickly to a clean black GMC Topkick, roaring out of the warehouse.

**-x-x-x-**

"You better get that freakin' needle away from me! Or I will bite your fingers off!"

"I'd like to see you try, you little lab rat."

"Oh, don't tempt me," Sam muttered, pulling against his Velcro restraints; the pain of his opening sores searing from under the uncomfortable cloth.

The doctor to his left, Dr. Swanton if Sam remembered correctly (_but who really cared what his _torturers _names where; he surely didn't), _smiled crookedly as he flicked the syringe with his finger, checking for air bubbles.

"You know struggling will only make it worse, Subject 00472."

"Like I care!"

"Dr. Swanton," mumbled the doctor to Sam's right, who seemed to be checking the computer screen every couple of seconds. "Please be professional. No aggravating the subject."

Dr. Swanton rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no aggravating the subject," Sam repeated in a mocking tone.

The annoyed doctor jabbed the needle into Sam's skin roughly, causing the boy to cry out in pain and pull against his restraints even more. Once the doctor secured the needle, smacked the area roughly, laughing as Sam grunted and flinched in pain.

"Do that again, Dr. McAsshole. I dare you."

Dr. Swanton laughed darkly. "You are a mouthy little brat for being tied up to a table."

Sam's glare deepened, but said nothing. He felt the affects of the poison that was being injected into his arm, making his mind sluggish and this comprehension slow.

"Wha… what a-are you d…do…ing?" he slurred; losing control of his body as it slowly became limp. His struggles stopped, as he couldn't move his body, his head lolling to the side.

Dr. Swanton let out a low, humorless chuckle. "Taking samples."

Sam's eyes became unfocused, but he tried his hardest to stay alert. He felt Cardio again; the little bot's fear slowly seeping into his brain. Sam tried to send back the feeling of reassurance, but he was pretty sure it was just a bundled up mess of emotions.

"S…s…sam…ple…s?"

Dr. Swanton's smiled evilly. "Oh yes, samples of your _bone_. Seems like they are hardening and we have to test the material." He glanced down at Sam, the smile never leaving his face. "And do you know what that means?"

Sam struggled to form words, his mind and mouth not working well with one another.

"Oh quit your idiotic babbling, you lab rat. It's giving me a headache," the doctor muttered, reaching for an instrument. "It means that we are going to have to drill into the bone."

Sam's heart rate sped up, causing Dr. Swanton to laugh, Cardio to send waves of panic, and Sam's heart to grip painfully.

From across the lab, Dr. Jameson cleared his throat. "Stop antagonizing the subject, Dr. Swanton. I do not want to report you."

Dr. Swanton scoffed and turned his back to the other doctor, rolling his eyes as he did so. "You have no right to order me around."

The doctor's babble continued.

Sam ignored the two doctors' squabble for a few seconds to try to collect his thought, although it was proving difficult with the drugs running through his system. Sam knew he had a connection with Cardio ever since he created the little bot, but this feeling griping his heart at times of extreme emotion; he couldn't place it, no matter how familiar it felt. Hoping it was just an after-affect of whatever he absorbed from the AllSpark, Sam prodded the presence, feeling the fog of his mind begin to clear. Whatever it was, it seemed to help, so he latched onto whatever the hell it was and held tight.

A sound of a drill brought him out of his thoughts. Focusing on the doctor (_God, why is this so difficult!, _he thought.), he struggled to get away from the massive drill in his hands.

"N-n-no!" he stuttered, struggling what seemed for the millionth time against his restraints.

The doctor leaned over Sam's right leg, where he didn't notice that someone had cleaned and shaved a patch of skin for the procedure. "I promise you, Subject 00472, that this is going to hurt…"

Sam screamed out in pain – hot, blinding, crippling pain – until the presence in his heart gripped so tightly that it began to drain the pain from Sam's body and blocked young Cardio from feeling the pain as well.

Little did Sam know, that somewhere in an abandoned warehouse, a yellow Camaro fell into convulsions of pain.

**-x-x-x-**

Published: June 23, 2012 - unbeta-ed


	3. Chapter 3: Jailbreak

**Author's Note: **WOW! This one came out fast! :) Thank you once again for the reviews! They fuel my muse and keep me writing! Oh, please excuse my spelling/grammatical errors; I try to read through and catch them, but I am only human and seem to miss a few (and I am HORRIBLE at the 'effect'/ 'affect' thing, I get all the others like 'their'/'there'/'they're' but for some ungodly reason e/affect HATES ME…haha). Anyways… ON WITH CHAPTER 3~!

**-x-x-x-**

_**Chapter 3: Jailbreak**_

**-x-x-x-**

"_Optimus!_" Ratchet yelled, struggling to hold down the convulsing bot. "You're bigger – hold Bumblebee down while I force him into stasis lock!"

"Is that safe?" the Autobot leader questioned, kneeling down next to the yellow Camaro. Bumblebee let out an audio-splitting screech of pain, causing the other two occupants to flinch and lower the volume of their audio receptors.

Ratchet looked up from Bumblebee to glare at his Prime, switching to internal communications. _[Now is not the time to question me, Prime.]_

Optimus frowned. _[I'm sorry, old friend.]_

Before Ratchet could stop it, one of Bumblebee's arms flailed and smacked him across the faceplates. "Frag it! Just hold the youngling down!"

Without another word, Optimus sat himself on top of the young bot, hold his wrists down and securing this body, lessening the convulsions enough for the CMO to tapped into Bumblebee's security program and shut him down.

Almost immediately Bumblebee's optics dimmed and spasms stopped. After a few moments passed and an awkward glance between the Prime and his CMO, Ratchet growled, "What the _frag_ was that about?"

The Autobot leader watched his CMO carefully. "I was hoping you knew."

"_Pit _if I know. I've only seen convulsions that strong when a spark goes through spark-break or spark-distress. Since Bumblebee is not spark-bonded, he couldn't have gone through spark-break because he lost his bonded."

"Spark-distress?"

"Usually only happens with spark-twins when they are separated for too long."

Optimus' engines rumbled as he thought. "Guardian-bond?"

"Wouldn't have been that strong," Ratchet muttered, rubbing his sore cheek plates. "I didn't expect the two to have formed a guardian-bond, anyway." Optimus tilted his head in confusion, waiting for Ratchet to continue. "I've never seen a guardian-bond form with another species before."

"That is quite… intriguing," Optimus sighed. "What do we do?"

"I am going to keep Bumblebee in stasis lock for a day or two to recover. Convulsions like that stress the spark and it needs time to stabilize," the CMO stated, gently lifting the youngling to a nearby table. "I hate not having_ my _medical equipment. Everything on Earth is so primitive."

Prime sighed. "Do what you must, Ratchet."

"I'm also going to run preliminary scans of his system," Ratchet murmured, more to himself then his leader.

Optimus nodded and turned. "I will contact Ironhide. I think this processer is very much cleared."

**-x-x-x-**

Sam groggily opened his eyes, the familiar fluorescent lights of his cell above him. He sighed, slowly turning onto his side on his cot, but stopped as a sudden pain radiated from his leg. He groaned, letting out a few select swears, noticing that his leg was wrapped in an ace bandage. The images of his _torturers_ – Dr. Goldden and Dr. Swanton, to be specific – and what he did came rushing back, causing panic and anger to swell up in him.

In the back of his mind, he felt Cardio's conscious rub against his in a comforting gesture, the boy's anger and panic draining instantly. He opened his mind for his creation to enter; his creation couldn't be with him physically, so he opened his entire mind for the heart-bot to find refuge from this God-awful place. Cardio became content knowing that his creator was there for him and drifted into a light recharge.

Cardio's presence was still new to Sam and was still odd to have another being connected to him, but something deep down accepted Cardio without question. Like some kind of instinct – maternal? It sounded so… feminine, but that was the only way to describe it. And for some reason Sam accepted that he had maternal instincts for this bot…

_What's happening to me?_

With that, Sam prodded the feeling in his heart, only to notice it was numbed.

Sam was pulled out of his thoughts by the footsteps of his feeder, but they sounded different, like someone was stomping their way down the hallway. There was a distinctive _clank_, from the flap hatch and a tray of food was pushed in, the contents of the small glass spilt everywhere from the force, causing the murky water to soak the stale bread.

Sam glanced up at the peephole and noticed that this wasn't his normal feeder. This man was burly and a permanent scowl on his face; he reminded Sam of an escaped convicted with prison tattoos, but more clean-shaven. A chill ran up Sam spine; this man gave him the creeps. Like not the 'oh, that weirdo is staring at me' creeps, but the 'that guy can kill me with one punch' creeps.

With slow and gentle movements, Sam maneuvered his way off the cot without jarring his leg too bad, but as he moved towards the food (_Slop is more like it, _he thought.) the new feeder's scowl turned into a nasty smirk. Sam was in reaching distance of the food when the pain struck again. He jerked, his back arching and slamming down on the hospital-like floor, his screeches of pain echoing around the room. Something was different, the pain didn't stop after a few seconds like it normally did; no, it continued, reeking havoc on the teen's body.

After what seemed like hours, which in reality was only about two minutes, the pain stopped just as quickly as it started. He was left panting and moaning on the floor, clutching at his rapidly beating heart. He glanced at the peephole to see the creep, smiling like he had won the lottery. Static from the intercom being turned on filled Sam's cell and a gravelly voiced spoke, "Rot in hell." And the creep was gone.

Sam laid on the floor to collect his thoughts, but it was difficult with the pounding in his head. That's when he felt the pressure in his head, as if something was trying to come out of his skull. Cardio, he realized, was trying to break through some sort of block between their connection. Sam lowered the barrier thing and feelings of love and worry overwhelmed him. Sam tried to send good feelings to the little bot, but his mind was so jumbled up that he couldn't think straight. The two weeks of experiments, tests, and malnutrition really started to take a toll on the boy.

He needed to get out of here soon… or risk being killed by the psychotic scientists.

With the slop forgotten, Sam stayed on the floor, starting at the fluorescent lights of his cell.

**-x-x-x-**

Dr. Henry Jameson walked down the metallic hall with a purpose, despite the fact that he was extremely nervous, he tried not to let it show. He rounded a corner and walked up the stairs, two at a time. He turned the corner again and came up to a door, knocking gently. He opened it slowly, peering through the crack of the door to see if anyone was in the room.

"Hello?" he called out and waited for an answer. Upon hearing none, Dr. Jameson quickly made his way in, gently closing the door behind him with a small _click_. He scanned the dark computer room, locating a terminal in the corner of the room. He sat down at the high-tech computer and began to type away furiously. Within minutes, Dr. Jameson secretly broke through all the firewalls and passcodes and hacked into the secure files.

A smile graced his lips when he pulled a file labeled '00472'. He opened one and the word 'terminate' jumped out. Quickly scanning the document, he realized that they were going to 'terminate' the little heart monitor robot first thing tomorrow morning. This heart ran cold; his plan was going to happen over the course of a couple days, so as to not raise any suspicion, but now he had to put the plan on full speed and do _it _tonight.

_Whoever is up _there,_ please help me,_ he silently prayed to whatever being was watching over him.

From the pocket in the front of his lab coat, he pulled out a flashdrive that masqueraded as a pen and plugged it into the computer. He downloaded the file and a number of other files that had to deal with Subject 00472. He unplugged the flashdrive and tucked it securely in his pocket once again.

Dr. Jameson's head shot up when he heard the door to the room click open. Without a second thought, Dr. Jameson muted the computer and forced it to shut down, than ducking behind a desk to his left. He heard footsteps coming closer to his location, but slowly and silently, he moved from desk to desk making his way to the exit. He glanced up occasionally, watching the shadowed figure of a security guard. When the figured had his back to him, he sprinted out of the open door.

Dr. Jameson made it down three halls and two flights of stairs before he stopped to take a breather.

_That was close,_ he thought, leaning against the wall of the hallway. _But I'm not finished yet…_

The scientist walked down the hall and came upon a door labeled 'Security'. Without even knocking, he opened the door and walked in. Two security guards look away from some soap opera playing on one of the security televisions to look at him.

"Doctor, I don't think you are supposed to be here," one said, standing up.

"What are you two still doing here?" Dr. Jameson asked, acting flustered and panicked.

"Wha-what do you mean?" the second security guard asked.

"I saw Dr. Swanton trying force one of the female scientists into the research room! How did you miss that?"

"Oh, Lord, not again! C'mon Patrick, lets go!" growled the second guard, smacking the first guard on the shoulder.

The two guards ran out of the security room, leaving Dr. Jameson unattended, just like he thought. Only having a few minutes before the moronic guards realize that Dr. Swanton was in a personal meeting with Dr. Goldden in the conference room, Dr. Jameson quickly hacked into the security feed. He made the video footage in Subject 00472's and the heart monitor turned robot's rooms continually play on loop of old footage, where it showed Subject 00472 laying in his bed sleeping and the robot in his heart monitor form in his cage, as well as the hallways outside both cells. Before leaving the room, he deleted all the footage of him in the computer room and running down the hallways – how the guards _didn't_ see him was some miracle.

Before Dr. Jameson left the security room, he grabbed a ring of keys. Once outside of the security room, Dr. Jameson walked down another flight of stairs to the floor of prisoner cells. At the very end of the one of the halls was a small door where the heart monitor robot was being held (_The entire opposite side of where Subject 00472 is being kept_, Dr. Jameson noticed.). He walked into the room, where the guard turned.

"What are yo-"

Before the guard could even finish his sentence, Dr. Jameson ran up to him and injected the guard with a tranquilizer. The guard fell to his knees, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, and fell unconscious with a light _thud. _Dr. Jameson quickly moved towards the little cage, which caused the little robot to move to the other corner of the cage, curling into itself and shaking violently.

"Hey, hey, none of that, little one," Dr. Jameson whispered, holding his hands up in a nonthreatening stance. "I'm here to help you." He hoped that the little robot would understand. "I want to bust you and your… maker? creator?… out of here." He noticed the little robot uncurled from itself slightly and looked up at the scientist with bright blue eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The little heart monitor robot clicked and whistled at him.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you," Dr. Jameson muttered, pulling out a ring of keys that he had swiped from the security room. Fumbling with the keys for a few seconds, he found the correct key and unlocked the heart monitor robot's cage. After a bit of hesitation, the heart monitor robot stumbled out of the cage and apprehensively watched Dr. Jameson. "I'm not sure how to carry you…"

With the metallic sound of gears against gears, a laptop appeared where the little heart bot had once been.

"A disguise… I like it."

Dr. Jameson picked up the heart monitor robot turned laptop and made his way out of the room, where the unconscious guard lay. He closed the door and locked it behind him. With the laptop under his arm, Dr. Jameson walked quickly to the other side of the floor, where Subject 00472's room was. Coming up to where the high security room was, he noticed two guards sitting outside Subject 00472's cell.

"Damn…" he muttered to himself. He set the laptop down real quickly and whispered, "Stay here. I'll be right back." Dr. Jameson straighten himself out and walked down the hall to where Subject 00472's cell was, both hands in his packet gripping a syringe full of tranquilizers in each. The guards noticed him and looked up from their spot on each side of the door.

"Dr. Jameson?" one questioned, looking curiously at the scientist.

"Hello gentlemen," Dr. Jameson greeted, smiling. "How is Subject 00472 behaving?"

The first guard scoffed. "Been layin' on the floor for a few hours and not moving much."

"Hope its dead," grumbled the second guard.

The first guard chuckled. "Don't we all, Al."

Dr. Jameson let out a humorless chuckle. Within a split second, he shoved both syringes into each of the guards' neck and injected them with the tranquilizer. Just like the guard in the heart monitor/laptop robot's cell, they both fell unconscious within seconds. The scientist quickly set up both the guards to look like they fell asleep on the job and when back to retrieve the laptop. He felt the little robot shaking in his grip.

"It's going to be okay, little guy. I'm going get you out of here."

Dr. Jameson grabbed the security card from one of the guard's belts and slid it into the reader, which beeped and unlocked the cell door. Once Dr. Jameson opened the door, the little robot wiggled out of his arms, changed back into his robot form and ran to the Subject, who was lying motionless on the floor of his white cell. He looked worse for wear; he was extremely skinny and looked almost sickly.

As if a switch was turned on in the Subject, he sat up to catch the little robot has it launched itself at him. The little robot latched onto the Subject's chest and rubbed its tiny head to the Subject's cheek.

"C-Cardio? Wha-what are you doing here?" the Subject asked, in a raspy, raw voice. The little robot – Cardio – whistled, clicked, and hummed in answer.

As if the Subject could understand the little robot, he nodded. His eyes snapped onto Dr. Jameson.

With a growl the Subject asked, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to bust you out," Dr. Jameson replied coolly.

"What angle are you playing at?" the Subject rasped, struggling to stand up.

"No angle," Dr. Jameson reassured. "I just want to help you get out of here, before something bad happens."

"Something _bad?_" the Subject hissed. "Something bad has already happ-"

"No, something worse," the scientist mumbled. The Subject's eyebrows shot up. "The little rob – I mean Cardio – is scheduled to be 'terminated' tomorrow morning."

"WHAT?"

"Shh, keep your voice down," Dr. Jameson hissed. "I've been planning for a while to get you out. Dr. Goldden has been lying to your Autobot friends and that's why they haven't been by. I expect that they would not like the way you are treated here."

The Subject frowned. "Yeah, but…"

"C'mon… We have to get out of here before they notice you or Cardio missing. I want you to have a good head start."

The Subject glanced at Cardio, who was latched onto his chest, his optics closed and listening to his heartbeat. "How are we going to get out?"

Dr. Jameson helped the Subject stand and limp out of the cell; one of the Subject's arm wrapped around Dr. Jameson's shoulder, the other wrapped tightly around Cardio. "Down the hall is an air duct entrance. You'll climb in with Cardio make two lefts, a right, and you'll hit a dead end, there will be another grate for you to exit into the garbage room. From there you'll escape through the garbage chute. The garbage truck will be here in ten minutes so we need to hurry."

They walked down the corridor, to where the entrance to the air duct was hidden by a grate. Dr. Jameson set the Subject down and quickly unscrewed the screws and pulled off the grate. The Subject crawled into the hole to the air duct, Cardio still clutched to his chest.

"You need to hurry. Left, left, right, dead end, grate, garbage chute."

The Subject turned to look at the scientist as he reattached the grate and began putting the screws back in. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Just hurry!" Dr. Jameson called, remembering something. "Wait! Here take this." Dr. Jameson pulled the flashdrive pen out of his coat pocket and pushed it between the grate. The Subject grabbed it.

"A pen?"

"A flashdrive. I downloaded all your files on there."

"Thank you?"

"You'll need it later, Subject 00472."

"Sam," the Subject whispered. "My name is Sam."

Dr. Jameson smiled. "Good luck, Sam. And may whatever god-figure watch over you."

With that, Sam turned and made his way to freedom.

**-x-x-x-**

**Author's Note #2**: Ten pages and over 3,000 words! WOOHOO! Longest chapter yet! Also, for those in America… HAPPY EARLY FOURTH OF JULY! :)

**-x-x-x-**

Published: July 1, 2012 – unbeta-ed


	4. Chapter 4: Head Above Water

**Author's Note: **Hello my lovely readers! Sorry this chapter is so late (seven months… I AM SO SORRY)… Life just threw me for a loop: moved into a new house, when to Hawaii, picked up extra shifts a work, started school, and now its finals week (can you tell that I am trying to procrastinate studying for finals?). Once again, I would love to thank all the readers, reviewers, favoriters, and alerters (the last two, yeah, I made those words up). You guys are freaking amazing and literally make my day.

I'M ON TWITTER! (just search "PolyBookworm") I will update twitter on how the story goes and other cool things! So follow me! And let me know that you are not some spam account 'looking for a good time'! :)

PS: WARNING – Cardio cuteness overload ahead. You have been warned!

**-x-x-x-**

_**Chapter 4: Head Above Water **_

**-x-x-x-**

His breaths came out in labored huffs. His knees and palms ached against the cool metal, which did nothing to help sooth the pain. His entire body was sore, but he continued to crawl forward through the ventilation system. Cardio, who moved to sit on Sam's back, whirled and clicked in annoyance as his creator blocked the little bot from the pain and discomfort he was feeling. He wanted to share his creator's pain with him, so that he didn't have to suffer alone, but Sam's wouldn't let him.

Sam felt the effects of the last two weeks. His body tired extremely quickly; he had only been crawling for a few minutes, but his body already burned from the strain of physical activity.

Cardio tapped his right ear, which signaled Sam to turn to the right, who was concentrating on keeping upright and forgot to keep track of where he was going. Sam sent gratitude through the bond. In response, Cardio laid his little head on Sam's spine and nuzzle close to the boy, griping the back of Sam's shirt tightly. Cardio beeped, happy to once again be close to his creator, his annoyance forgotten.

After another minute or two, Sam came up to a dead end, which ended with a large grate. Looking through the panels of the grate and seeing no one in the garbage room, Sam slowly maneuvered his aching bodying to where he could kick the grate open. After a few failed attempts, Sam's patience began to wear thin.

"Stupid son-of-a-" _Kick._ "Why don't you just-" _Kick._ "Holy mother of-" _Kick. _

Cardio set a little hand on Sam's knee, causing the boy to stop and look at his little bot. Cardio climbed over Sam's lower half and quickly unscrewed the screws, causing them to fall into the garbage room with little _clinks_. Sam latched his fingers through the panels of the grate and pushed it open and ungracefully slid out of the vents. He slowly placed the grate back where it belonged and Cardio quickly put the screws back. Cardio scampered back to Sam and climbed up the length of the boy's to latch back onto his chest, Sam unconsciously placing his left arm under the bot for support.

Sam took in their surroundings; they were in an empty garbage room, where they noticed three chutes – two labeled "Trash" and the third "Recycle".

Sam glanced down at the little bot on his chest. "So… I guess we jump into the chute…"

Cardio did a little shrugging motion with his shoulders, causing Sam to snort. Sam stumbled over to the second trash chute and looked down the long, dark tunnel. Sam ungracefully, and quite clumsily, lifted himself up into the chute to where his feet were dangling inside and he sat on the small edge. After a few moments of hesitation, Cardio lightly pulled on the front of his shirt towards the chute.

"I know, I know," Sam muttered, still staring down the shaft. _Just please don't be some sick joke and there be an incinerator at the bottom._ "Hey, Cardio, why don't you get under my shirt. I think it might be safer."

Cardio let a squeak of happiness as Sam pulled open the bottom of his shirt to allow Cardio to climb in. Sam shivered as Cardio's warm metal made contact with his bare chest.

Cardio poked his little metallic head out of the collar of Sam's shirt. "Get a good grip before I jump, okay buddy."

Before Sam realized what happened, Cardio's pointed fingers dug into the skin on his chest. Wincing, Sam let out a strangled gasp, his body went stiff as he felt Cardio's fingers latch onto something deep in his chest. He felt Cardio's mental presence increase, as it seemed like the little bot was _uploading_ into Sam's system. The foreign feeling caused Sam to pull up a mental barrier, which made Cardio to pull back a bit.

"No, no! It's okay," Sam whispered, pulling down the barrier. "Just hold on tightly and we'll be out of here soon." _And get all this stuff figured out… _Cardio put his head back into Sam's shirt and curled into a protective ball, Sam wrapping one arm around the little bot.

"Alright… One… two… three-" Sam pulled his other arm around himself and Cardio as he propelled himself down the chute. Sam closed his eyes, the speed making him dizzy and disoriented. His back and shoulders were jostled and bumped as they made their way down the trash chute. After a few seconds of being tossed around like an unsafe rollercoaster, Sam landed heavily on his back in a giant pile of garbage. After collecting his thoughts for a few seconds, and making sure that Cardio was undamaged, Sam sat up to take in his surroundings (Cardio decided to do so too and poke his head up through Sam's collar again). But before he could fully see where he was (they seemed to be in some outside trash site), he heard voices and quickly tucked himself in the trash and lay down as still as he possibly could.

"Is that all the trash, Bob?" called a voice to the right of Sam.

"Seems so," responded another voice.

"Alright," the first voice hollered, "Let's get a move on then. We've gotta make a pit stop at Jackie's Roadhouse before sunset, I don't want to miss their early bird dinner special."

The second voice hooted with joy at the idea.

Sam jumped at the rumble of the truck's engine being started and hugged Cardio closer to his chest. The truck began to move and Sam's heart began to pound in excitement. They were finally on their way to _freedom._

**-x-x-x-**

After waiting about a half an hour after making it through the security at the entrance of the horrid government facility, Sam felt it safe to peer over the back of the garbage truck. The sun was sinking towards the horizon and the temperature began to drop (but the trash in the truck was slightly warm with the garbage decomposition – not to mention the smell!). Sam looked around, taking in the tall trees and forest around the small curvy road. Where were they?

Cardio gripped the edges of his collar and peered over it, making small click and whirls every so often.

_Click. Click. Whirl._

"Those are trees," Sam answered the little bots question as he pointed to the tall pine trees.

_Click. Whirl. Clink._

"That's the sun."

Cardio clicked in curiosity, wanting to know what everything was, but he knew that his creator was exhausted and need to take a rest.

"Once we get back to the Autobots, I'll make sure to take you on a camping trip and teach you all about nature. How does that sound, little buddy?" Sam said, with a small yawn.

The small bot whirled in happiness and snuggled into his creator's chest. Sam, once again, put his arm around Cardio and leaned back into the trash, waiting for the drivers to make a pit stop at Jackie's Roadhouse to finally make a run for it.

After about an hour or so, just before sunset, the garbage truck slowed to a stop. After the engine was killed, Sam could make out the sound of voices and the hustle and bustle of a rest stop. After the two truck drivers left the garbage truck parked a ways from the rest stop (the smell would probably gross people out), Sam peered over the side that was parallel with the side of the road. Sam noticed that the forest was now very thin, compared to earlier, which could be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Good, because the thinner the forest the closer to civilization, bad, because that means less spots to hide. But Sam took the chance anyways; he looked both ways to make sure no one was coming, checked to make sure that Cardio was holding on (which he was taking a quick stasis nap while being 'uploaded' into Sam's system), and jumped from the top of the truck. Sam maneuvered so that he would land on his back so not to harm Cardio, but it did a number on him. The jolt woke up the little bot, who quickly made a fuss over how dumb that was. Sam didn't care, they needed to get away and that needed to happen now.

Sam struggled to his feet: being injured, malnourished, exhausted, and on edge sure did take a toll on the boy. Cardio offered to get off and walk on his own, but Sam declined, saying that it made him feel better with the heart-bot so close.

Sam stumbled into the forest, mindful of his injured leg, and made his way to the back of the rest stop. Sam spotted the shower/bathroom building and made his way over to it. It may not be 'homey' but it was a temporary place to spend the night without getting caught. Sam needed to sleep, only if it was a quick power nap.

**-x-x-x-**

"_What do you mean 'escaped'_?" Dr. Swanton, Amanda (her personal assistant), and a tech coward under Dr. Goldden's deathly glare. "How the _hell_ did you let Subject 00472 escape along with that damn abomination?" she hollered, slamming her palms on the desk in front of her. She turned her back to the three and rubbed her temples roughly. Dr. Goldden took a deep breath and lashed out, kicking a trashcan across the room, narrowly missing the poor tech. Dr. Goldden paused on her rampage.

"Where is Dr. Jameson?" she asked sweetly, turning to face the three others in the room.

"Uh… h-he's been missing since last night, ma'am. The guards saw him leave after his shift, but no one can get a hold of him," Dr. Swanton muttered, not making eye contact with his boss.

Dr. Goldden growled. "You better hope that dumbass has _nothing_ to do with the Subject's escape, or I'll kill him myself…"

"Yes, ma'am…" all three mumbled, still cowering from her.

Dr. Goldden screamed, causing all of them to jump. "I want Subject 00472 found _immediately_, if it the last thing you fucking morons _ever do_!"

Before they could think, all three were scrambling over one another to get out of the room with the she-devil and begin the search for the missing experiment.

**-x-x-x-**

Published: December 4, 2012 - unbetaed


End file.
